Some people have to go through certain rituals or make certain gestures before they begin to talk, in order to protect themselves or apologize for speaking.

I've just returned form a trip to the UK taking in Edinburgh, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Ipswich, Guildford, with visits to London, and Cambridge.

I met many old friends, and made a lot of new ones.

I did some work researching information for my exam project, but the main focus was on taking in new material from the menu of excellent trainers at the ITA Conference, and at the weekend workshops given by Jean Illsley Clarke at Oxford, and Susannah Temple at Cambridge.

Now that I am back home again, I am asking myself 'What did I learn?"

Well one thing that did strike me (time for me, some of you may say) is that there is a limit to the amount of information I can take in one 'glump'

I'm glad that I am good at taking notes, because I will be relying on what I wrote to consolidate what I learned at the time.

Four people attended
Pat had a letter from the Mediation Resource Centre wanting to know which dates TAI North would require the premises during the next year, because the Centre are starting a big youth initiative, and they want to sort out times for activities. TAI North are not sure if they should continue, the interest seems to be waning, and maybe they should wait until they can offer proper training and run workshops and courses, and maybe apply for funding for them.

Geraldine hosted the meeting, and Tony gave the presentation on the Individual and the Group, based on Eric Berne's Structure and Dynamic's of Organizations and Groups. He also used some ideas from Charles Handy.

I really seemed to have missed out on a good meeting. I am making use of some of his stuff for the next training weekend in Cambridge where the theme will be around groups.

A lively discussion was held about the need to review the Constitution and to simplify it. The 5-year Review is due to take place in the year 2000.